FIRST LESSON IN AUTUMN CONTINUED. CUNNING OF AGE. RANGE OF FROM TWO TO SIX
DOGS.
153. Of course you will not let your pupil "break fence," or get out of
your sight. Be on the watch to whistle or call out "Fence," the instant
you perceive that he is thinking of quitting the field. Do not wait until
he is out of sight; check him by anticipating his intentions. Should he,
unperceived, or in defiance of your orders, get into a field before you,
call him back--by the same opening, if practicable, through which he
passed, the more clearly to show him his folly;--and do not proceed
further until he has obeyed you. A steady adherence to this rule will soon
convince him of the inutility of not exercising more patience, or at least
forbearance; then signal to him "away" in the direction _you_ choose, not
in the direction _he_ chooses. It is essential that you should be the
first over every fence. In the scramble, birds, at which you ought to have
a shot, are frequently sprung. If he is not obedient to your orders make
him "drop," and rate him as described in 139.
154. A dog from his own observation so much feels,--and in a greater or
less degree, according to his education,--the necessity of watching in
what direction you are walking, that if he is habituated to work under
your eye,--I mean, is never allowed to hunt behind you,--by turning your
back upon him when he is paying no attention to your signals, you will
often be able to bring him away from a spot where he is ranging--perhaps
down wind--against your wishes, at a time when you are afraid to whistle,
lest you should alarm the birds. Waving your hand backwards and forwards
near the ground, and stooping low while walking slowly about, as if in
search of something, will often attract the attention of an ill-taught,
self-willed dog; and his anxiety to participate in the find, and share the
sport which he imagines you expect, will frequently induce him to run up,
and hunt alongside of you for any close lying bird.
155. Never be induced to hunt your young dog,--nor indeed any dog,--when
he is tired. If you do, you will give him a slovenly carriage and habits,
and lessen his zeal for the sport. In order to come in for a sniff, at a
time when he is too fatigued to search for it himself, he will crawl after
his companion, watching for any indication of his finding. As they become
wearied you will have a difficulty in keeping even old well-broken dogs
separate--much more young ones, however independently they may have ranged
when fresh. You may also, to a certainty, expect false points; but what is
of far more consequence, by frequently overtasking your dog, you will as
effectually waste his constitution as you would your horse's by premature
work.
156. If he is very young when first entered, two or three hours' work at a
time will be sufficient. When he is tired, or rather before he is tired,
send him home with the man who brings you a relief. Do not fancy your dog
will be getting a rest if he is allowed to follow at your heels for the
remainder of the day, coupled to a companion. His fretting at not being
allowed to share in the sport he sees, will take nearly as much out of him
as if you permitted him to hunt. If you can persuade John always to rub
him down, and brush and dry him--nay even to let him enjoy an hour's
basking in front of the fire--before he shuts him up in the kennel, you
will add years to his existence; and remember that one old experienced
dog, whose constitution is uninjured, is worth two young ones.
157. When you hunt a brace of dogs, to speak theoretically, they should
traverse a field in opposite directions, but along parallel lines, and the
distance between the lines should be regulated by you according as it is a
good or a bad scenting day, and according to the excellence of the dogs'
noses. Mathematical accuracy is, of course, never to be attained, but the
closer you approach the better.
158. You should attempt it--on entering the field to _leeward_, as before
directed--by making one dog go straight ahead of you to the distance which
you wish the parallel lines to be apart from each other, before you cast
him off--say--to the right; then cast off his companion to the left. If
the dogs are nearly equal in pace, the one ahead, so long as he does not
fancy he winds game, should continue to work on a parallel more advanced
than the other.
159. Should you not like to relinquish, for the sake of this formal
precision, the chance of a find in the neglected right-hand corner of the
field, cast off one dog to the right and the other to the left, on
entering it, and make the one that soonest approaches his hedge take the
widest sweep--turn--and so be placed in the _advanced_, parallel.
160. With regard to hunting more than a brace--when your difficulties
wonderfully multiply--your own judgment must determine in what manner to
direct their travelling powers to the greatest advantage. Much will depend
upon the different speed of the dogs; the number you choose from whim, or
otherwise, to hunt; the kind of country you beat; and the quantity and
sort of game you expect to find. It is, however, certain you must wish
that each dog be observant of the direction in which your face is turned,
in order that he may guide his own movements by yours;--that he from time
to time look towards you to see if you have any commands; and that he be
ever anxious to obey them.
161. Herbert writes as follows, in his work on shooting in the United
States:[27] his words ought to have influence, for manifestly he is a good
sportsman; but I own I cannot quite agree with him as to the _facility_
with which a range can be taught: "It is wonderful how easily dogs which
are always shot over by the same man--he being one who knows his
business--will learn to cross and re-quarter their ground, turning to the
slightest whistle, and following the least gesture of the hand. I have
seen old dogs turn their heads to catch their master's eye, if they
thought the whistle too long deferred; and I lately lost an old Irish
setter, which had been stone deaf for his last two seasons, but which I
found no more difficulty in turning than any other dog, so accurately did
he know when to look for the signal."
162. To beat your ground _systematically_ with three dogs, you should
strive to make them cross and recross you each on a different parallel, as
just described for two dogs; but each dog must make a proportionally
bolder sweep--turn--or,
163. If you have plenty of space, you can make one dog take a distinct
beat to the right, another a separate beat to the left, and direct the
third--which ought to be the dog least confirmed in his range--to traverse
the central part,--and so be the only one that shall cross and recross
you. If one of your dogs is a slow potterer, and you prefer this method to
the one named in 162, give him the middle beat, and let his faster
companions take the flanks. In our small English fields you have not space
enough, but on our moors, and in many parts of the Continent, it cannot be
want of room that will prevent your accomplishing it. To do this well,
however, and not interfere with each other's ground, how magnificently
must your dogs be broken! In directing their movements, the assistance
that would be given you by each dog's acknowledging his own particular
whistle, and no other--275--is very apparent.
164. It is difficult enough to make three dogs traverse across you on
tolerably distinct parallels; and at a judicious distance between the
parallels you will find it hopeless to attempt it with more than three;
and one can hardly imagine a case in which it would be advantageous to
uncouple a greater number of good rangers. If, however, the scarcity of
game, and the extensiveness of your beat, or any peculiar fancy, induce
you habitually to use four dogs, hunt one brace to the right, the other to
the left; and, so far as you can, let those which _form a brace be of
equal speed_.[28] Your task will be facilitated by your always keeping the
same brace to one flank--I mean, by making one brace constantly hunt to
your right hand; the other brace to your left. The same reasoning holds
with regard to assigning to each dog a particular side when hunting
three, according to the mode described in last paragraph. It should,
however, be borne in mind, that constantly hunting a dog in this manner on
one and the same flank, tends to make him range very disagreeably whenever
employed single-handed.
165. If you hunt five dogs, four of them ought to work by braces to the
right and left, and the fifth--the dog whose rate of speed most varies
from the others--should have a narrow beat assigned him directly in
advance of you.
166. If three brace are to be used, let the third brace hunt the central
ground, as recommended for the fifth dog--or they could be worked in
leashes, one on the right of the gun, the other on the left.
167. These are the correct _theoretical_ rules, and the more closely you
observe them, the more truly and killingly will your ground be hunted.
168. Probably you will think that such niceties are utterly impracticable.
They must be impracticable if you look for mathematical precision; but if
you hope to shoot over more than mere rabble, you should work upon
_system_. If you do not, what can you expect but an unorganized mob?--an
undrilled set, perpetually running over each other's ground,--now grouped
in this part, now crowded in that,--a few likely spots being hunted by all
(especially if they are old dogs), the rest of the field by none of them;
and to control whose unprofitable wanderings, why not employ a regular
huntsman and a well-mounted whip? Doubtless it would be absurd to hope
for perfect accuracy in so difficult a matter as a systematic range in a
brigade of dogs; but that you may approach correctness, take a true
standard of excellence. If you do not keep perfection in view, you will
never attain to more than mediocrity. I earnestly hope, however, that it
cannot be your wish to take out a host of dogs--but should you have such a
singular hobby, pray let them be regularly brigaded, and not employed as a
pack. In my opinion, under no circumstances can more than relays of
leashes be desirable; but I should be sorry in such matters to dispute any
man's right to please himself; I only wish him, whatever he does, to
strive to do it correctly.
169. Some men who shoot on a grand scale make their keepers hunt each a
distinct brace of dogs,--the gun going up to whatever dog points. It is
the most killing plan to adopt; but that is not the matter we were
considering. The question was, what method a man ought to pursue who had a
fancy to himself hunt many dogs at a time.
170. If a professional breaker could show you a brigade of dogs well
trained to quarter their ground systematically, and should ask from fifty
to sixty guineas[29] a brace for them, you ought not to be surprised.
What an extent of country they could sweep over in an hour and not leave
a bird behind! And consider what time and labor must have been spent in
inculcating so noble a range. He would have been far better paid if he had
received less than half the money as soon as they "pointed steadily," both
at the living and the dead; "down charged;" "backed:" and were broken from
"chasing hare," or noticing rabbits.
171. Some men fancy that the faster they walk, the more country they hunt.
This is far from being always the case. Dogs travel at one rate, whether
you walk fast or slow, and the distance between the parallels on which
they work--being determined by the fineness of their noses, and the
goodness of the scent--ought not to be affected by your pace. Suppose,
therefore, that you shoot in an unenclosed country, whether you walk
quickly, or merely crawl along, the only difference in the beat of your
dogs _ought_ to be that, in the latter case, they range further to the
right and the left. You thus make up in your _breadth_ what you lose in
your _length_ of beat.
172. Nor do the fastest dogs, however well they may be broken, always
truly hunt the most ground. The slower dogs have frequently finer
olfactory nerves than their fleeter rivals,--therefore the parallels on
which the former work may correctly be much wider apart than the parallels
of the latter. The finer nose in this manner commands so much more ground
that it beats the quicker heels out and out.
173. You will see, then, how judicious it is to show forbearance and give
encouragement to the timid, but high-bred class[30] of dogs described in
114; for it is obvious that, though they may travel slower, yet they may
really hunt _properly_, within a specified time, many more acres of ground
than their hardier and faster competitors; and it is certain that they
will not so much alarm the birds. Dogs that are most active with their
heels are generally least busy with their noses.
FOOTNOTES:
[27] Entitled, "Field Sports in the United States and British Provinces,
by Frank Forester."
[28] A rule to be followed whenever you employ relays of braces.
[29] 250 to 300 dollars. This would be by no means an extraordinary price
here, however extraordinary it might be to see dogs so qualified.--H.W.H.
[30] It is admitted, however, that they are often difficult animals to
manage; for the _least_ hastiness on the part of the instructor may create
a distrust that he will find it very hard to remove.